Sunshine and Shadows
Eileen Lucy Garwood was born in 1908, the third of five child born to Ella and Frederick Garwood. Like many women, she had a variety of names and there are many reasons why you may not immediately recognise her. Her nickname was Tirzah, possibly a reference to Tirzah in the Book of Numbers in the Bible, and/or from her grandmother’s reference to "Little Tertia" ie the third child (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tirzah_Garwood). Later in life she became Mrs Swanzy, but before that she married the artist Eric Ravilious. You may well have heard of him.
This first marriage seems to have been a period full of sunshine and shadows. Tirzah was an artist in her own right but, as with many female artists, Garwood’s career was overshadowed by that of her husband’s. The Dulwich Picture Gallery is currently showing what is billed as ‘the first major exhibition of her work’, an event which, we feel, is long overdue. ‘Tirzah Garwood: Beyond Ravilious’ is open until 26th May and, in Terroir’s opinion, definitely worth a visit - despite the number of Ravilious’ pictures also on show.
Tirzah Garwood (above left) and Eric Ravilious (above right): Phyllis Dodd
Tirzah was born in Kent. Her father, was Lieutenant Colonel S F Garwood (Royal Engineers), and to some extent her childhood was a military classic, moving on from one posting to another. There doesn’t seem to have been much glamour in this however: “[Tirzah] and her family accompanied her father on army postings to [wait for it] Croydon, Littlehampton and then Eastbourne” or “Glasgow, Lyndhurst, Croydon and Littlehampton”, depending which website you read. All the effort, one suspects, but none of the romance. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tirzah_Garwood / https://flashbak.com/tirzah-garwood-a-very-british-vision-of-marriage-lovers-and-work-464951/
Settled in Eastbourne, Tirzah attended secondary school (Wiki suggests West Hill School but the link takes you to a boys school in Stalybridge, Manchester!) and then, in 1925 (Wiki), or 1920 (flashbak website – surely a misprint) to Eastbourne School of Art.
Enter Ravilious who taught her wood engraving – with great success it must be said. Unfortunately, “Tirzah’s parents thought her subject matter hideous. She stated in her autobiography: ‘They thought Mr Ravilious was perverting a nice girl who used to draw fairies and flowers into a stranger who rounded on them and did drawings that were only too clearly caricatures of themselves’”. (flashbak website, quoting Grawood). Certainly, Ravilious’s background was considered to be of a lower social status than that of the Garwoods. If these ‘scurilous’ engravings or drawings still exist, there is no evidence for them in the exhibition.
Tirzah married Ravilious in 1930. They lived in London (Hammersmith) for a couple of years, then moved to Great Bardfield, in Essex, and became part of the Great Bardfield Artists community. It appears that Tirzah’s main role at this time was helping to run an enormous house – cooking, cleaning, entertaining and so on - although it was this period which, with the support of Charlotte Bawdon, saw her develop beautiful marbled papers (often to be made into lampshades!), technically brilliant and inspired by many organic and plant forms.
Later, in a search for a house of their own, Tirzah and Eric moved to nearby Castle Hedingham where their three children were born and raised and where they also played a full - and time consuming - part in village life.
As a woman, art had to take a back seat at this time, something she said she always regretted. The Wiki entry for the Great Bardon Artists is a classic reflection of the period: “The principal artists who lived there between 1930 and 1970 were … Eric Ravilious … [+ 10 other names]. Other artists associated with the group include … Tirzah Garwood [+ 6 other names]”.
Above: two contrasting interpretations of life in Great Bardfield - left is Ravilious’s view of Tirzah and Charlotte Bawden relaxing in the garden; right is Tirzah’s much more vigourous and hard working portrayal, a beautifully designed and stitched representation of a wonderful, but time consuming, productive garden. Every vegetable is clearly identifiable and instantly capable of producing a bad attack of kitchen garden envy.
It seems that these pre-war years became increasingly complicated with another house move and various affairs on both sides. But WWII saw many changes: in 1941 Tirzah began her battle with cancer and, in 1942, Eric (now an official war artist) was posted ‘missing – presumed dead’, while involved in a flying mission off Iceland. By 1944, Tirzah had a written her biography, moved the family home again – and started painting.
Garwood seems to have been inspired by her environment, her personal landscape, her terroir. Her subject matter comes from gardens, agricultural landscapes, stately homes, village scenes, wild and cultivated flowers and her children and their toys. Even the view point and scale of her painting seems to be influenced by a child’s view of the world.
Her palette included wood cuts, oil painting, collages and models. Many of her works reflect an eerie, unsettling atmosphere, which make her legacy the more memorable – and disturbing.
Below: the images of Essex countryside and farming are fascinating and, we suggest, the changes in scale and dominance of certain items are troubling, yet also evocative of childhood simplicity and optimism. Do feel free to disagree!
The exhibition curator uses the word ‘surreal’ for some of Garwood’s children related work; we don’t disagree!
In her gentler moments, Garwood used oils and collage to represent more homely and domenstic village street-scapes:
The works illustrated above represent just a tiny selection from this excellent exhibition which is also a celebration of a female artist stepping out of the shadows.
In 1946, Tirzah Garwood married Henry Swanzy, a BBC General Overseas Service radio producer and moved to London. The cancer returned but she continued to paint, moving to a nursing home in Colchester where she died in 1951.
So, we leave you with one final but unfinished work: a vision of Mrs Noah and the steam locomotive ‘Nero’. This is a Tirzah Garwood classic, and one which she was working on just a few days before she died. The words of Henry Swanzy and the exhibition curator make a very fitting epitaph:
